Cloud Gazing
by Mione of Ravenclaw
Summary: On a sunny summer afternoon, Hannah and Susan take to gazing at the clouds and both end up learning much more than they thought they would. Susan/Hannah oneshot femmeslash.


**A/N-Here's something a little bit different than what I usually do; it's a Susan/Hannah oneshot. I wrote it as a reward for reaching a target post number on my femmeslash forum, and Bree, the winner requested a fic with this lovely ship. No worries, I haven't forgotten about Hermione/Ginny. I'm just having major writer's block in that department and hoping that this will help to get me moving. Hope you enjoy!**

**I don't own, nor did I create any part of the Harry Potter universe. That's all JK Rowling. I only write fanfiction for my own enjoyment and that of those who are kind enough to read and review! **

Hannah sat on the edge of the dock, her feet dangling so that they just barely skimmed the top of the water when she swung them back and forth. An early summer sun warmed her back and neck as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes to allow the sun to warm her face. Hannah loved this time of year before the sun got too hot and after the dreary weather of spring. She allowed her thoughts on weather to wander aimlessly and did not even notice when her best friend Susan Bones took a seat next to her on the dock.

"Beautiful weather, isn't it?" Susan said as she squinted her eyes and scanned the surrounding landscape, taking in the shimmering lake and the small houses dotting the far shore.

"Yes," Hannah said, turning to her friend. As she did, she flipped her short pigtails over her shoulder. It was a habit that she had which Susan never failed to notice. "It's gorgeous. I'm so glad my father didn't sell this place after I graduated Hogwarts. I always did love coming here during the summer."

"And now we have it all to ourselves for the week," Susan said as she nudged Hannah playfully. "Whatever will we do to pass the time?"

"Well, we don't have it all to ourselves," Hannah corrected in a way that reminded Susan vaguely of Hermione Granger. "Ernie and the rest of them will be coming soon."

"I suppose you're right," Susan said as she laid back and put her hands under her head. "Here lay down next to me."

Hannah rolled her eye at her best friend. Susan always wanted to do silly things like laying on the dock with her feet in the water. Hannah did enjoy Susan's antics though; Susan helped her to relax more than anyone or anything else, so she trusted in her friend and eased herself onto her back, resting her head on her hands.

"So?" Hannah asked. "What do we do now?"

"Well, I like looking at the shape of the clouds," Susan explained. "I like to see what kinds of shapes I see in them. I call it cloud gazing. Like that one there, I think that one looks like the Fat Friar."

Hannah squinted at the cloud in question, but could only make out a very vague resemblance. "I think it looks more like that Hufflepuff statue that people decorated around Christmastime."

"Hmm," Susan said as she tilted her head to the side. "I suppose I can see that a bit. How about that one there? I say it looks like that crazy picture of trolls trying to dance."

Hannah laughed at the recollection of the absurdity of the painting, and she had to admit that the clouds bore a strange resemblance to the painting.

"Ok I'll accept that. My turn to go first now," Hannah said as she scanned the sky before pointing at a cluster of clouds to her left. "I think that that one there looks like a mug of butter beer."

"No way," Susan said as she peered at the fluffy cloud. "It definitely looks more like a serving of treacle tart."

"Yeah," Hannah said absently. "I suppose it does."

"It doesn't look anything like treacle tart," Susan said as she turned her head to face Hannah. "I only said that to get a reaction from you. Are you even paying attention?"

"Yeah," Hannah said as she continued to face the sky, now with her eyes closed. "But do you think we could maybe just lay here and enjoy the weather for a little while?"

"Sure," Susan said. "Are you sure that you're alright though? I mean, I thought we were having a good time."

"I was, I am," Hannah said, a hint of exhaustion in her voice. "I am having a good time. I just want to rest for a bit."

"Alright," Susan said, though she wasn't convinced by Hannah's vague explanation. Susan laid back down, but did not close her eyes as Hannah had done. Instead she watched the other girl intently for a sign as to what might be wrong. Her eyes traced the curve of the other girl's eyelids and continued to run her eyes over the Hannah's soft pale cheeks. Susan had reached Hannah's lips when she was startled to see them move and hear a whisper of Hannah's usually authoritative voice.

"It was her favorite," Hannah said.

"What do you mean?"

"You want to know why my mood changed," Hannah said, still without moving. "Treacle tart was my mum's favorite. I know it's stupid, I mean she's been dead for three years, and stupid things like treacle tart set me off."

"Oh, Hannah," Susan said as she leaned awkwardly over Hannah to try to give her a hug. "It's not stupid at all. I know just how it feels. I mean I didn't lose my mum but I took my Aunt Amelia's death pretty hard. I still miss her a lot sometimes too even though it's been four years, so it's not stupid at all."

"I guess," Hannah said, though Susan saw tears pooling in Hannah's still shut eyes.

Susan wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't as though she had limited experience comforting people. She'd had plenty of experience comforting people when a number of her family members were murdered during the war. She had voluntarily taken up the role as designated comforter, the strong one. Susan had done it for Hannah three years before, after her mother's death, even as she herself wanted to cry at the loss of the kindly Mrs. Abbot. Now though, she was having a hard time thinking straight. She was just so close to Hannah and being that close, practically resting on Hannah, made Susan's brain inexplicably foggy.

"Please don't cry," Susan managed to say, though she realized how stupid that saying was. She's hated hearing it herself, so she had always tried to refrain from saying it to others.

When Hannah suddenly opened her eyes, Susan realized that she had been staring at Hannah's face. Susan didn't know why, but she'd been having an increasingly hard time taking her eyes off of Hannah for a long time now. Now though, being in such close proximity to Hannah, it was difficult for her to play it off as incidental eye contact. She was about to say something, but Susan was apparently too preoccupied to notice.

"I'm sorry," Hannah said as she wiped her eyes. "I want to have a good time. Let's have a good week with none of this drama. Ok?"

Susan looked at Hannah for a moment without saying anything. Her eyes looked tired, but they had the same sparkle of life that they usually did. They were just a little bit puffy from crying and there was still a tear in the corner of her eye even as she smiled that radiant smile of hers. It was in that moment that Susan understood. She understood the staring and the cloudy brain, and everything made perfect sense. She leaned down and wiped away the remaining tear. Susan had a sudden impulse, and without thinking again, she leaned down and kissed Hannah.

It was a quick kiss, soft and light. It was like a first kiss, even though both girls had been kissed on more than a few occasions. Susan wasn't really sure what she was doing and she quickly pulled away, in a sudden panic.

What had she done? She had just kissed Hannah Abbot and liked it, but that wasn't possible. They were best friends; it would be like Harry Potter kissing Ron Weasley, or even Hermione _Granger_ for that matter. It just didn't make sense. The worst part was that Susan wasn't sure whether Hannah had even kissed back. All of these thoughts raced in and out of Susan's head in the space of a few seconds before she sprung to her feet.

"I think I'll go swimming," she said. Without turning back to Hannah or unbraiding her hair, Susan jumped into the small lake and started swimming away. It was a few seconds before she heard a splash behind her and Hannah's voice.

"Hold on, wait for me," Hannah yelled as she swam towards Susan, who had reluctantly stopped and turned around. She realized that she was just over a shallow part of the lake, so she stood in the water up to her shoulders.

"What's up?" Susan asked awkwardly, just to fill the silence, as she was apt to do when she was uncomfortable.

"Why did you kiss me?" Hannah asked simply. Susan was surprised by the straightforwardness of the question. On matters like this one, Hannah tended to be easily embarrassed and did not often ask exactly what it was she wanted to know; she had a more roundabout way of getting her information.

"I don't know," Susan said. It wasn't a complete lie, she reasoned. She couldn't come up with one good reason to actually risk her friendship for a kiss, even if she knew why she had _wanted_ to kiss Hannah.

"Yes you do," Hannah said. "I'm not angry, I just want you to tell the truth."

"Because I wanted to, I guess," Susan said. It sounded like such an incredibly inadequate reason, but Susan couldn't explain it any other way. "Can we just forget about it? It was just an impulse. A silly impulse. I didn't really like even like it that much. It won't happen again."

When Hannah didn't say anything else, Susan became antsy. "Well, what's wrong?"

"It's just that I, I really liked it though," Hannah said, and Susan saw color creep into the other girl's cheeks as she picked at a hangnail. Susan was so relieved that she laughed out loud. "What's so funny?" Hannah asked, sounding mildly offended.

"If we're being honest, I really liked it too," Susan said, then regaining some of her characteristic boldness added, "Do you mind if I kiss you again?"

Instead of responding, Hannah leaned towards Susan and kissed her. It was harder that the last one, and there was no questioning that both girls were actively participating. Susan put her hand on Hannah's bare neck and Hannah tentatively wrapped her arms around Susan's waist underwater.

Both girls began to sway on the spot, overcome by the unexpected intensity of their embrace. Hannah suddenly stumbled backward off of the sandbar. When she regained her footing, Susan was smirking at her, obviously trying to suppress laughter before giving in. Hannah splashed her playfully.

"Hey, it could have happened to you," Hannah said.

"No, Hannah, that would only happen to you," Susan said as her laughter subsided.

When both girls did stop laughing there was a moment of awkward silence. Both Susan and Hannah could sense that things had changed, and they weren't sure what to do next in this uncharted territory. Susan wanted to swim as fast as she could back to shore and Hannah appeared to have a similar impulse when Ernie appeared on the dock.

"Hey what are you two doing out there?" he yelled out to them. "We just got here, we've been looking all over for you."

"We'll be right in, Ernie," Susan shouted back. Before starting to swim back to shore, she turned to face Hannah. "Well, er, um...how'd you like to go swimming again later tonight?"

"I would love that," Hannah said as she smiled broadly at Susan.

Susan flashed Hannah a quick, relieved smile before ducking underwater and swimming back to shore. It might take a little bit of time to figure things out, but Susan had a feeling that things were going to be alright. She thought that they even had a chance of being wonderful.

**A/N-So what do you think? Let me know what you think with a review!**

**Reviews, even a word or two, make me very happy!**


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